Long Shong Group (Hong Kong)
Background Formed by Wang Ying-xiang in 1971, the Long Shong Group is mainly responsible for distributing films and owning some cinema circuits in Taiwan. Long Shong made its fame in being the first distributor introducing Hong Kong movies to Taiwan in the glorious 1980s-90s, which also made Taiwan one of the important markets for Hong Kong films. The company established a Hong Kong production branch in 1986, being one of the first Taiwan investors in making Hong Kong films like Swordsman II (1992) and its 1993 sequel The East Is Red. In addition to film distribution, Long Shong also operates cable channels in Taiwan and Canada, broadcasting popular movies from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries. 1st Logo (1980's-Late 1980's) Nicknames: "Creepy Rock Man Sculpture", "Connected/Striped LS I" Logo: We see a rock sculpture of a man's head at the left on a black background. At the right side of it, the outline of a red square with the connected striped words "LS" (which is the company's emblem) zooms out with a trail effect, and it stops, revealing the white color of the emblem. The square flashes, and the words "LONG SHONG PICTURES LTD." wipe in. The eyes of the man flashes, and four Chinese letters wipe in between the emblem. FX/SFX: Animation remiscent of other Hong Kong logos from this era. Cheesy Factor: The sculpted head isn't really necessary, and the flashes look a bit dubious. Music/Sounds: A synth tune beggining with an arpeggio. There's also a descending sound when the comapny name wipes and a bling at the end. Availability: TBA Scare Factor: Medium, mainly due to the sculpture and the loud music. 2nd Logo (Late 1980's-Late 1990's?) Nicknames: "The (Chinese) Dragon I", "Connected/Striped LS II" Logo: On a black background, two stylized waves appear and clash onto each other, causing themselves to splash, releasing a huge amount of water drops. The background lights up to see a yellow/orange sun background and a 3D dragon appears. The bubbles follow the dragon and disappear, while the dragon roars. The dragon moves, sees the golden Chinese letters (which are the Chinese translation of the comapny's name), makes a "S" position and the S from the "Connected/Striped LS" forms inside the dragon, making it dissapear completely, while the sun grows larger and turning into the gold gradient background. The emblem is formed and the Chinese letters flies, while the English translation appears and flies along with the Chinese letters. The LS emblem places itself at the top (and rotated to the left a bit) while the comapny names put themselves at the bottom of the emblem, forming the finished logo. Variant: There was a variant where the text is replaced by "LONG SHONG INTERNATIONAL LTD.". Also, the bevel of the texts are more wider and they're facing to the top. FX/SFX/Cheese Factor: Very good CGI animation, but it's not done without the fault. The S is formed in a slow way, and you can see it stopping and resuming each 3 to 4 frames. Music/Sounds: A string-like sound is heard at the beggining, followed by the dragon roar. Then a Chinese-styled theme is heard, with the last note sustained. An arpeggio is also heard at the end. The International variant has the theme low-pitched. Availability: Common in China/Hong Kong, but rare in the US. The easiest places to find this logo is on Swordsman II and it's sequel The East Is Red, which are also made by Film Workshop and Golden Princess. The "LONG SHONG INTERNATIONAL LTD." variant may be seen on international prints of their films. Scare Factor: Low to high. The dragon and fanfare may be scary for some people, especially when unused to it. However, it's a favorite and well-known logo of the Hong Kong/China movie community. 3rd Logo (Late 1990's?-2010) Nicknames: "Connected/Striped LS III", "That Long Shong Logo Without the Dragon or Sculpture" Logo: On a space background, we see the gold LS emblem on the bottom. The emblem moves, reveals it's entire form and places at the top of the screen. The red square fades behind it and a line appears, where the Chinese letters and "LONG SHONG GROUP" text below fade in. FX/SFX/Cheese Factor: Lesser-quality Nineties CGI. Music/Sounds: A majestic fanfare beggining with a timpani roll. Availability: TBA Scare Factor: Minimal to low, because of the fanfare. However, it has nothing on the second logo, as well as what follows this... 4th Logo (2010-present) Nicknames: "The (Chinese) Dragon II", "Connected/Striped LS IV", "Now We Have A Lot Of Dragons!" Logo: We first see a black/green gradient background with "liquid" gold below (kinda like the 1986 Yorkshire TV logo). Steel dragons (with yellow lights) come out of the water and move around. The camera cuts to various angles. In one of them, we see a part of a dragon (which is probably it's hand) opening. The camera cuts to another angle and a dragon's face is shown and it roars. The camera zooms out to reveal that the dragons has finished the LS emblem (in yellow/gold). The emblem zooms out to the center. When it's almost done zooming, the text "LONG SHONG GROUP" appears via "light ray" effect. FX/SFX: Very good CGI like the 2nd logo. Cheese Factor: It looks like the dragons haven't made the logo right. Music/Sounds: A synth drone, along by sounds that accompany the logo, like the dragon's roar. Availability: Current. Seen on their most recent movies. Scare Factor: Low to medium. The dragons and the creepy-looking drone are scary, but people who liked the 2nd logo may like this. Category:Hong Kong